WAITING FOR THE PUBLIC ANGER THAT NEVER HAPPENS

Apr. 18 - SALIDA - In this society, it is difficult to confess that
one holds any hopes beyond those of unspeakable wealth, but I'll take
my chances and admit that for several years I have held one major
hope: That something so outrageous would happen during the conduct of
the War on Drugs that the American public would rise in righteous
anger and demand that it be terminated instantly, and that all those
responsible for this barbarous assault on our rights and liberties
would treated as war criminals.

But by now I should know better. Nobody is marching in the street over
the latest assault, which occurred last week when the drug warriors
showed up at the Tattered Cover, Denver's beloved bookstore, with a
search warrant.

Not to look for drugs, but to examine the book purchases of someone
suspected of running a methamphetamine lab.

Presumably, if the suspect had bought a book like "How to Cook Meth at
Home in Your Spare Time for Fun and Profit," then, well, then what?

If he was actually running a meth lab, then presumably the authorities
have physical evidence. If he wasn't, then what difference does it
make what books he buys?

And if for some reason this information belongs in a criminal trial,
then why not get a subpoena, rather than go shopping for a compliant
judge to issue a search warrant?

Or were they just trying to send a message: If you sell books that the
Board of Government Drug Censors (also responsible for vetting
prime-time television and dispensing bribes to cooperative networks)
does not approve of, then you can expect, at the least, an expensive
and time-consuming legal battle, presuming that your attorney arrives
before a gang of armed enforcers starts pawing through your computers
and business records.

But nothing is safe from the Drug Warriors. They insist on knowing the
content of your "precious bodily fluids." They spy with helicopters to
make sure you're not growing the wrong plants outdoors, and they check
your utility bills just in case you're using more electricity than
they deem proper.

In short, if there is any "right to privacy," it's one of those things
Americans are supposed to sacrifice during wartime.

At any rate, the attempted invasion of Tattered Cover did not rouse
American passions enough to matter.

And when there was a chance for some decent leadership - the
proclamation by New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, a conservative
Republican, that it's past time to get over the War on Drugs - nobody
rallied to his side.

Instead, the Republican nomination will go to a fellow who says it's
none of our business what he may have snorted during his youth, but
who makes it his business now to send people to prison for the same
activities.

Also failing to incite much outrage was a homicide in New York on
March 16. Some undercover cops approached one Patrick Dorismond, an
unarmed security guard, and tried to persuade him to sell them some
marijuana.

Dorismond just said no, but apparently that's not enough these days. A
scuffle ensued, and Dorismond was dead with a bullet through the chest.

New York Mayor Rudolph Giulani might have made some statement to the
effect that he really doesn't approve of shooting people because they
refuse to sell drugs. But instead, he released Dorismond's supposedly
sealed juvenile police record, as though the fact that Dorismond was
not perfect was sufficient justification for killing him on the street.

Giulani's standing in the polls for the New York Senate race fell, but
that's not much consolation. His opponent - Hillary! Rodham Clinton -
has to my knowledge never uttered a word in favor of the Bill of
Rights or against the War on Drugs.

Indeed, under the regime of Hillary!'s husband, America's prison
population has more than doubled, to more than 2 million inmates, at
least a quarter of them incarcerated for drug offenses. From 1990 to
99, the federal government spent $81 billion on the Drug War, and
state and local governments wasted billions more.

Yet by all accounts, illegal drugs are as cheap and available as
ever.

It's only the Bill of Rights that has suffered during this long and
horrible war, and I keep hoping, however improbably, that some war
crime will incite general public outrage.